The first time this constituency voted for the Congress was in 1977. The next time round, the seat remained with the Congress, and that was the first time that S Krishnakumar became MP. He was elected in two more rounds, slowly increasing his tally of votes, but 1996 saw his defeated at the hands of the RSP's N K Premachandran, by almost 70,000 votes. Lending a touch of glamour to the proceedings was Nina Pillai, widow of the biscuit king Rajan Pillai, contesting as an Independent. Considering that she garnered an impressive 60,000 or thereabouts, perhaps Krishnakumar's fate would have been different had she not been in the fray.